


Bullying

by LilacChocolate



Series: Rin & Nitori [4]
Category: Free!
Genre: Bullying, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, M/M, Swearing, Violence, chill your beans, not too graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:42:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7262827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacChocolate/pseuds/LilacChocolate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ai is being bullied and beaten up by three boys from his maths class.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bullying

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iguana_ism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iguana_ism/gifts).



Aiichiro ambled through the quiet aquatic centre, feet dragging across the tiled floor. He was late for swim practice, but instead of hurrying along like he usually would, he stopped for a moment and yawned. He hadn’t been sleeping much recently.

‘Nitori.’

The grey-haired swimmer’s shoulders slumped as a voice called out to him. He knew who it was. The first couple of times he had fought back, tried to run, but he knew that they would always catch him, and then the punishment would be ten times as worse. Aiichiro turned around, watching with tears in his eyes as three boys strolled towards him. They were second years and were in Rin and Aiichiro’s maths class. Aiichiro was only a first year, but since he excelled at maths, he was moved into a higher class and was seated next to his beloved senpai. He had been in love with Rin since October, and his feelings were clear to everyone on the swim team and in the maths class, but Rin didn’t seem to notice. The three boys were all too aware of Aiichiro’s feelings for the temperamental redhead and had begun to bully him because he was gay.

It had been three months. Three months of name-calling, punches and bruises. He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat properly, but Aiichiro’s school work and swimming times stayed perfect: he couldn’t let Matsuoka-senpai know that something was wrong. He had even taken to wearing skin-coloured makeup on his arms, legs and chest so Rin wouldn’t be able to see the bruises.

‘How are you today, Nitori?’ The ring leader, Kimura, asked him. He had dark brown hair and was just as tall and well-built as Rin.

‘Fine.’

‘Confessed to your senpai yet?’

Aiichiro shook his head, and one of the other boys, a boy with dark purple hair, stepped closer to him. ‘When does swim practice start?’

‘Five minutes ago.’

The three boys laughed and Kimura shoved Aiichiro against the wall. ‘Tut, tut, Nitori. What would your Matsuoka-senpai say?’

He stayed silent.

‘Well?’

Nothing.

Kimura swiftly landed a punch to Aiichiro’s gut, making the small boy double-over, but not cry out in pain. He wouldn’t let them know they’d hurt him.

‘I asked you a question!’

Aiichiro still didn’t answer. The two other boys pinned Aiichiro to the wall by his shoulders, and the ring leader punched him in the gut again. There was a gasp from the other end of the corridor and all four boys looked up. By the entrance to the changing rooms stood a swimmer in just their jammers and a swim cap, goggles in hand. Aiichiro couldn’t see who it was because of the tears blurring his eyes. He didn’t want anyone to find out about this. He didn’t want Rin to think that he was weak.

The attention was quickly back on Aiichiro, and two punches were administered to his chest, making the grey-haired boy groan in pain. ‘I think the little kohai has finally realised that his Matsuoka-senpai doesn’t want him.’ The two other boys snickered, and Aiichiro felt the first few tears fall. ‘He’s crying!’

The three of them laughed harder and he was punched hard in the gut again. This time, though, Aiichiro lurched forward and coughed, blood landing on the floor.

‘Ew! I don’t want your blood on me! You did that on purpose, you little fag!’

As soon as those words left his mouth, Kimura was pulled away from Aiichiro and rammed against the opposite wall, a surprised cry coming out of his throat. ‘Matsuoka?!’

Aiichiro’s eyes widened and he looked up, seeing that his red-haired roommate had pinned Kimura against the wall.

‘What did you say to Ai?!’

Instead of backing down, Kimura just smirked. ‘Why do you care? Are you a fag too?’

After rooming with Rin for half a year now, Aiichiro knew that it didn’t take a lot to rile up his senpai, so after that one comment, Kimura was lucky that Rin only punched him in the face. Aiichiro had never seen his senpai so angry before. A sickening crack echoed through the corridor as Kimura’s nose was broken, and one of the boys pinning Aiichiro to the wall ran off, not once looking back.

The other boy, the one with the purple hair that Aiichiro had never bothered to learn the name of, let go of Aiichiro, but didn’t run off. Instead, he grabbed the back of Aiichiro’s school shirt and caught the small grey-haired boy in a headlock, slowly choking him.

‘Senpai… Matsuoka-senpai…’ Aiichiro managed to croak out as the other boy cut off his oxygen supply. Rin didn’t turn around. He was too busy punching Kimura, cracks resounding through the aquatic centre, and Aiichiro was too delirious now to know if it was Kimura’s bones that were breaking, or Rin’s.

Aiichiro could feel himself going, feeling his eyes wanting to slip shut and just sleep. Sleep for at least a week. That would be so nice. But his senpai would never forgive him for being so weak. He had to try one last time.

‘Rin…’

He didn’t see his senpai’s response. Aiichiro’s vision went black and he fell to the floor, not too sure if he heard someone shout his name before he lost consciousness.

...

When Aiichiro woke up, the first thing he registered was the scent of the sheets and the pillow that he was sleeping on. It was a gorgeous peppermint smell that had a hint of underlying chlorine. He buried his face further into the pillow, but his eyes quickly opened when he remembered what had transpired earlier. What had happened with Rin and Kimura?

He sat up, wincing as he did. His dorm room was lit with the soft lamp light from the bedside table and Rin was sat by the bed in one of the desk chairs, reading an old swimming magazine. At the sound of Aiichiro’s wince, he glanced up, immediately closing his magazine when he saw that his roommate was awake.

‘How long have I been out?’

‘Just under five hours.’

The grey-haired boy nodded, glancing out of the window. Swim practice had been at four o’clock, and now the moon was high in the sky, a few stars punching through the almost black sky. ‘What happened?’ He asked.

Rin sighed and leant forwards, resting his elbows on his knees. ‘That boy, the one with the purple hair, Fukui, I think his name was, choked you to a point that you couldn’t breathe and you blacked out.’ The butterfly swimmer shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I should have heard you say my name the first time. I’m sorry. No, actually, I’m sorry that I never realised what you were going through. How could I not see?! We go to swim practice together, we go out shopping together, we go jogging together. How could I not have noticed? You notice every little detail about me, and I never even took the time to notice that there was someone beating you up repeatedly. I’m so sorry, Ai.’

‘It’s fine, senpai.’ Aiichiro smiled and Rin reached forwards, holding one of his hands. That was when Aiichiro noticed the bandages covering his senpai’s knuckles. ‘What did you do to your knuckles?’

‘I was punching Kimura, remember?’

Aiichiro nodded and lightly ran a finger over the bandages, seeing that dried blood was showing through them. ‘You need to change the dressings, senpai.’

‘The nurse is coming up in a few minutes to do it. She needs to check on you too.’

‘Your knuckles… does that mean you can’t swim?’

Rin nodded. ‘It’s only for a week.’

The younger swimmer felt tears well up in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, senpai! I didn’t mean for you to get caught up in this!’

‘It’s fine, Ai. It’s only for a week.’

He nodded, deciding to change the subject slightly. ‘What happened to those boys?’

‘They’re in hospital.’

Aiichiro’s head shot up. ‘Hospital?’

The red-head nodded. ‘They deserved it. I wasn’t having them saying those things to you.’

Aiichiro could see the anger rising in his senpai’s eyes, and he found himself crying. He had never wanted to get Rin involved in all of this. And now he couldn’t swim for a week.

‘Ai! Don’t cry. This isn’t your fault!’ Rin knelt on the bed and wiped away the tears of his kohai. ‘I should have noticed.’ He hugged Aiichiro carefully, not wanting to put any more pressure on his bruised ribs. Once Aiichiro had stopped crying, Rin pulled out of the hug, holding the smaller boy at arms’ length. ‘I want you to tell me everything that they ever did to you.’

The young boy nodded, and in between sniffles, he described every bruise that he had ever received from Kimura and his friends. By the time he had finished, Rin was holding Aiichiro in his arms, cradling the crying boy against his chest. ‘How did it start? How did the bullying start?’ Rin asked once Aiichiro had calmed down.

At this question, he blushed. ‘They would follow me around campus, always asking me if you were my boyfriend.’

‘And what did you say?’

‘I said no.’

Rin levelled his red eyes with Aiichiro’s blue ones. ‘If anyone ever asks you again if you’re my boyfriend, tell them yes.’

The grey-haired boy’s eyes widened. ‘Why?’

Rin smiled and kissed Aiichiro lightly on the lips. Aiichiro squeaked in shock, one of his hands flying up to touch his lips, his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

‘There was another reason why I put those boys in hospital. It was because they shouldn’t have been hurting the person I love.’

‘Senpai…’ Aiichiro didn’t think that this day would ever come. He thought he would have to go through his entire time at Samezuka Academy pining and longing for Rin, the red head always just slightly out of reach. But not anymore. ‘I love you too, Rin.’

They kissed once again, Rin gently moving his lips against Aiichiro’s as if they had been hurt by Kimura. ‘When you feel better, we can go on a date, I promise.’

‘I’d like that.’ Aiichiro told him, burying his face into Rin’s chest. ‘Can we go out for sushi?’

‘Anything for you.’ The redhead placed a kiss on top of Aiichiro’s head and cradled him in his arms again, not letting go even when the nurse entered their dorm room a few minutes later.

**Author's Note:**

> http://lilacchocolate.tumblr.com/


End file.
